Transforming food systems with trees and forests

A method to analyze the food-water-energy nexus for data-sparse cities: A comparison of green roofs in São José dos Campos, Brazil and Johannesburg, South Africa

“…Cities that have di culty achieving their food self-su ciency should consider improving food production e ciency (e.g., controlled-environment agriculture, growing more types of vegetables by full utilization of space per unit area) and exploiting other productive spaces in the cities (e.g., community gardens, school farms). In the meantime, the tree-and forest-based agriculture systems that could deliver nutritious food have been recommended to reshape and add resilience to food systems 42 . Transformations of various landscapes could be promising paradigms for future urban agriculture development and stimulate the pathway changes in land use as well 43 .…”

GlobalUsefulNativeTrees, a database of 14,014 tree species and their uses, supports synergies between biodiversity recovery and local livelihoods in landscape restoration

“…Trees play major functional roles in the world’s ecosystems where they protect biodiversity and are important carbon sequesters that mitigate climate change (1; 2) . They also provide a wide range of socioeconomic benefits to billions of people (3) that include being important sources of nutrient-rich foods that support healthy diets (4; 5) . By growing diverse food trees in their agroforestry systems, for example, smallholder farmers can achieve year-round nutritional security, while the sale of these foods supports broader healthful consumption (6) .…”

“…Significant win-win opportunities exist for driving forest landscape restoration adoption and improving local peoples’ livelihoods if proper consideration is given to the uses of the trees to be planted. This is because careful reference to trees’ uses that meets specific local needs is an important incentive for community involvement in restoration action (4; 14) . What is needed especially is a knowledge of uses of native tree species whose planting and management in restoration activities is supportive of the twin goals of biodiversity conservation and livelihood improvement, avoiding some of the detrimental impacts of focusing on better-known exotic trees.…”

Synergizing Food Security With Forest Conservation: Preliminary Insights From Social Forestry Implementation In Riau, Indonesia

“…Forests may contribute to strengthening food systems mainly through three pathways: providing direct food sources for consumption (i.e., direct pathway), income from the sale of forest products leading to purchase of food items (i.e., income pathway), and ecological services, which sustain the forest environment including the food and income sources (i.e., ecological pathway) [4][5][6][7]. In 1111 (2022) 012035 IOP Publishing doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1111/1/012035 2 Indonesia, among other countriesthe agroforestry practice, where forest trees are retained along with the cultivation of crops and animal farming, may fulfill these pathways [7]. Nonetheless, it might also produce a potential threat to forests if profitable cropping proves more economically beneficial [8].…”

“…Bolstering the connection between forest conservation and local food security provides the highest benefit to the local and indigenous communities, considering that almost 50 million people live within and nearby forest areas, which includes 35 percent of the poor population in the country [12,13]. A recent study denotes the potential of conserved forests as a vital component toward food security and nutrition and calls for increasing their relevance within global and national discourses [7]. Enhancing local food security through sustainable forest management also aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) #15 (Life on Land) and #2 (Zero Hunger).…”